ADDRESS 



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John A. Minnis. 




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CHARGES 



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HON. RICHARD BUSTEED. 



Montgomery, Ala., July I, 1872. 



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ADDRESS 



OF 



John A. Minnis. 






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CH ARQES 



OF 



HON. RICHARD BUSTEED. 



Montgomery, Ala., July I, 1872. 



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TO THE PEOPLE OF ALABAMA. 



It is known tn most of vou, (hat various persons have 
been indicted in the United States District Court 
in the northern and middle tlistricts of Alabama, for viola- 
tions of the Enforcement Actn of Congrewfl, popularly 
knowu as the KuKlux laws. 

At the last term at Uuntsville, six were tried and con- 
victed ; and ar the May term here, just adjourned, neveu 
were tried and convicted, and one pleaded guilty. 

These laws, and trials under them, have been mrmt 
bitterly assailed and denounced, and although Irecpiently 
>jr<;ed to do so, I had determined not to say anything to 
iho public, but to leave the convictions and developments 
made on the trials to speak for themselves, l>ut seeii'^; 
papers North and South continue their course of bitter 
denunciations, and with such gross misrepresentations, 
and knowing that the true facts scarcely ever reach the 
public ear, I have determined, for the vindication of truth, 
to lay before vou aa briefly as I can, a few of the facts, and 
to which I call your serious attention. 

The Montgomery Mail and Adveriifier, of the 27th of 
June, 1872, under the head of "Men who are in Prison," 
purports to give a brief history of a man by the name of 
Moore, from South Carolina, who before the war was a well 
to do farmer in Alabama, and at the close of the war hired 
a few of his former slaves and commenced life anew. If 
this is not entirely a fancy sketch, it must be intended to 
apply to Sam Moore, originally, as I believe, from South 
Carolina, at the commencement of the war a farmer in 
Limestone county, Alabama, and to which place he returned 
after the war, and at the last terra of the Huntsvillo 
United States District Court, convicted and sentenced to 
the Albany Penitentiary for ten years. This is the only 
man of that name, who had lived in Alabama, that I have 
any knowledge or ever heard of being convicted ; and in 
his case the outrage was so great, so revolting to humanity, 
the proof of his guilt so manifest, that his defense was 
placed upon purely legal grounds. Coun<'el in his defense 



did not even pretend to argue o* intirante that be Wiis not 
.s:iiilty, and such was the desperation of tiis character, that 
the whole community, who tiad turned out to secure his 
arrest — tor the truth is, he was arrested by the citizens — 
expressed tiiemselves gratified when he Was removed to 
Huntsville, and expressed a sincere hope that he never 
would be permitteci to return to tlie county, to disturb its 
peace. Fie was known to be the leader of a desperate 
Klan. "When he was arrested lie threatened man}' ot the 
iitizens. leiiiiig them they then bad their crowd, he would 
have his by and by, and would attend to tl)em. I was in 
Limestone county soon after he was arrested, and was told 
h}' leading Democrats, the best citizens of the county, that 
it' he w:is turned loose, and made his appearance on the 
streets in Athens, the county seat, there were a dozen 
n»pn who would feel bound to sboot him down in selt- 
defence. 

I have no desire to do any injury to Moore or any living 
man. I am sorry to feel compelled to say a word upon 
his case, but in m}' judgment, the vindication of truth re- 
quires this much, and I appeal to every honorable man ot 
any party in Limestone county, where he lived, and every 
(uie that heard his trial, for the truth of all that 1 have said, 
and much more that might be said. Whilst I have as mnch 
sympathy as any man for the unfortunate (if you will have 
it so) men convicted and sent to prison; still I cannot loose 
all sympathy ior the dying shrieks and groans of the victims 
uf these hellish Klaus; prayers and agonies of their victims 
under the lash, for the smoke from the burning ruins of 
their generally humble homes, the grief, suifering, wants 
and misery of their widows and orphans; these often in- 
nocent and helpless victims, surely are entitled to some 
sympathy ; they have not had the privilege awarded to 
their persecutors of a fair and impartial public trial by a 
jtiry of their own selection, with counsel and witnesses in 
their defence. The cases of these poor victims have been 
determined by midnight self-constituted conclaves, and 
their orders mercilessly, in the midhours of night promptly 
by men in disguise, put into execution with more "than 
fiendish ferocity. And in several instances when good men. 
had notice of some of the outrages that were about to be 
committed, and had the courage to go to these Klaus, and 
plead, or attempt to do so, with them to let the law take its 
course, tthey were answered by these monsters in human 
shape in disguise, in quUerel toiler: "We arc the law ! We 
are the law ! We are the law ! " 

The same paper, in the same issue, under the head of 



"The Grant Platform." charged th^t National Statutes in 
force, are odious, to break the spirit of onr people and 
make them slave!? to federal power ; that |)eaceable cit- 
izens are Hiiatciied away from their bnsineHs and homes, 
Hi)d taken to other States in violation of private ripht and 
(JooKtitution of the land ; that the spy, the bayonet, the 
unborned witneMses, b»'ibed jury and partisan judtre liavR 
full sway over the lives, property and rights of five mil- 
lions of people ; that the whole legislation of Congress, in 
re;;»rd to the 8ouih. has been one grand and infamous 
purpose to subordinate the white man to the nejrro ; that 
reconstruction, the Fourteenth Amendment, Ku KIux Act, 
all discriminated by reason of race and political creed ; 
that Ku-Klux pretended evils, are Ku-Klux goblins, to 
correct which the Government has resorted to unconstitu- 
tional law, and interfered with rights not surrendered by 
the people to either State or National Government. 

As to the charge of partisan judge, this in Alabama can 
oidy be intended to apply to Judge Busteed. It is well 
known to yon all, that Judge IJnsteed has persistently, up 
to a late period, denied the existence in Alabama of sucli 
an organized Klan as Ku-K.lux. and that he has constantlv 
been quoted as the highest authority against such an or- 
ganizaiu^n; that before the Congressional Committee he 
gave testimony, honestly no doubt, against its existence 
in Alabama. 1 know that even after many indictments 
had been found for outrages, banding and conspiring, etc., 
in North Alabama, he still did not think it whs by organ- 
ized bands, and that he so wrote to the Department of 
Justice. 1 know that he stuck to, and avowed this opinion, 
until the proof was so overwhelmingly convincing that, 
much against his prepossessions, he was forced to change 
his opinion ; put when lully convinced, like a pure patriot, 
an honest man atid an upright judge, he did not fail in him 
doty to faithfully administer the law for the suppression 
of this most diabolical evil. A-s long as Judge Busteed 
fould be made to believe and express that belief, that 
there was no such organization, with these pretended de- 
fenders of our people, he was a great and good man, and a 
pure and an upright judge ; but as soon as the proof 
showed him his error, and he nad the firmness and honest^' 
to announce the truth, lie at once, in their opinion, be- 
comes the parti/an judge. 

As to perjured witnesses, it is a suggestive fact that in 
all there trials and convictione, not one single colored 
witness has been charged with swearing falsely; the 
whole charge is made a? to witnesses who a few months 



4 

ajro were the comp-iiilons and assaciatep, a)id fully endorsed 
and accredited by iliose men who now charge them with 
perjury. 

As to bribed juries, I make this challenge: That whilst 
I do not charge that any juryman iu Alabama has eVer 
iieen, or olferrd to be bribed, still ttwt if such is the fact, 
1 challenge invet^tigation, and will show the only bribe 
ever offered to, or accepted by jurors or witnesses, was in 
favor of defendants and not the Government. 

And now to show you how Judge Busteed was forced to 
change his opinion of this matter, and to show you the ex- 
istance and diabolical pnrposes of the ortranization, 1 call 
your attention to the following charges of Judg;e Busteed 
TO the jury in the case of the United States vs. R. G. 
Young, J. D. Young, Rindgnld Young and Neal Uarkius, 
and also in the case of the [Jnired States vs. R. S. Gray, 
George Howard and James Blankt^: 

Gentlemen of the Jury : 

The prisoners at the bar are charged with violating two 
of the public laws. They are accused, under the sixth 
section of the act of Congress, approved May 31, 1870, 
and the second section of the act approved April 20, 1871. 
The sixth settiotis are in tliese words : "If two or more 
j>erson8 shall band or conspire together, or go in disguise 
upon the public highway, or upon the premises of another, 
with intent to violate any provision of this act. or to injure, 
oppress^ threaten or intimidate any citizen, with intent to 
prevent or hinder his free exercise or enj<ivment of any 
right or privilege granred or securred to him by the con- 
stitution or laws of the United States, or because of hi.s 
having exercised the same, such person shall be held guilty 
of a felony;" and the second section of the act of 1871 
provides that, if '"two or more person^< within any State or 
Territory of the United States shall conspire togetlier, or 
go in diguit^e upon the public highway, or upon the prem- 
ises of another, for the purpose, either directly or indi- 
rectly, of depriving such person of the equal protection 
of the laws, each and every person so ofiending shall be 
deemed guilty of a high crime. 

The offense described b\ the statutes if^ what is known 
a<* a conspiracy, which is defined as the "cornxpt ogrceivq 
fogefher of two or more persons to do, by concerted action, 
something unlawftd, either as a means or an end." 

The "United States, in this case, have proved the exist- 
ence of an orL::anization commonly known as the Ku-Klux 
Kian, and have proved the ends this organization proposes, 



or 

and the moans by wliicli they were to he acconHtlirihofI* 
'J he witDesf»e8, Nelson, Williamw, Baines, McGlau^lui, 
K»tni(livant, Hanell, Cabiuess, Webb, William.i and G»eeii 
Siurdivaut, were severally members of the klau or the 
victims of its atrocity. N«lson, Williams, McGlaagha 
and Russia?! Sturdivant were themselves initiated into it-* 
bloody mysteries. Ilarrell, iu)W of" Georgia, a lawyer and 
the editor and proprietor ot a Democratic newspaper, t<^s- 
tiljes to the existence oi the klau, in Alabauja, at the time 
and place tixed b}' the witnesses who are proved to havo 
belonged to it. This witness, with a becoming sense oi 
what is due to the opinions of mankind, avails himself of 
his light not to anhwer whether, before J87(), he was a 
member of the order, but testified that ho had no connec- 
tion with it since that year. It is evident that, aroused 
by conscience and civilized notions, he has availed himself 
ot the locus peiiileniice. The witnefeses, iJHrnes, Cabines?, 
Webb Williams, and Green Sturdivant, were severely tor- 
tured and whipped, and o})pres.-jed, by this hell conceived 
combination. 

I have DO ditirulty in declaring it to be the law of the land 
that the organization «i!' a Ku Klux Klan is the consumma- 
tion ot jUot suci) a conspiracy and banding to;>:other as it 
was intened by those statutes t<» punish, and that whoever 
eprolp himself on its ii&t oi membership, and takes its obli- 
gation, is H conspirator within the intent and meaning of 
those laws. 

What is the oltjecf of the Ku Klnx Klau? Hear it 
s'ated from the lips of those who, in an evd hour, allowed 
theuiselves to become members of it. Doctor Nelson de- 
clares its oiijfcct was "to control governmental affairs in the 
Uuited States; to protect each other, and, ii any member 
of the order was ai rested for doing anything as a Ku-Klux, 
we were to release him. if in d(jing «o we hdd to burn 
every prisson in the State." To all this the witness tells us, 
the members of tlie klan were oath bound, and the penalty 
lor divulging any of its secrets was deaih. 

The witness, Williams, tells us that the klan had no 
.stated place for convening — that its members met in out 
o( the Way fields and graveyards, in disguises, and at 
niiiht. 

Mr. Barnes has put before you the notice which was 
jiffixedio the gate of his premises by this l)and of murderous 
out-laws, in the month ot January. l6l[. It consists of 
tlie outlines of a cotiiu, with his name in the centre, and a 
notice that ten days would be allowed him to leave the 
country. It is signed with the cabaliotic letters. He has 



8 

jilso put before you the notice wiiicb, in Febrnary, 1871, 
the Ku-K!ux placed ou the cliurch door, near to the school 
bouse which these marHuders subeequently burned dowi;. 
Thi» preciouB document in in words and figures as, follows; 

"I Jake an emba^ter from the tombt; do come torewarn- 
inrj the j)Oopie of Pearson Ohappel naborhfX>d from infer- 
ring; anyone him her or from undertakinjz' a school without 
the coupent of every man and women in the naborhood, 
that winheB to send to school — if suffered the house will 
share (he fate of New Ehim for our purpose is to have 
quiettude peace and harn)ouy throughout the land, which 
is the life ot all nations." ' "K K. K." 

Mr. Barnes has also put before you the notice taken from 
the ruins of the school house, after it was burned by these 
wretched enemies of learning and religion. This last no- 
tice was put up by the Ku Khix as lately as the month of 
April, of last year. It is in words and figures as follows: 

"We are here for pease and expect to have peas© in our 
country if we cant have it one way we con a nother We 
truly hope that the members of Pearson's chapel will brake 
up the school at the meeting bouse if not it will bare the 
Fnte that New Elam Did And I further more say if Dock 
Barnes dont hold his peace Hell will be his portion We 
dont want to burn the house but if the school is not stop- 
ped it will burn down immediately this is written by the 
Commander of the Cross Roads and Recorded bv the 
Devils clerk." "K. K. K.'' 

Mr. Barnes, you' must recollect, never belonged to th« 
Ku-Klux. Hft was its deadly enemy. No complicity 
with its foul deeds weakens or etains his testimony. The 
defense conlesses his credibility. No witness, as in the 
case of McG!au::hn. is called to prove that Barn* ought not 
to be believed, He stands before you admitted to be 
worthy to be received as a truthful witnesss, and his tes- 
timony is corroboration of the strotigest kind of the wit- 
nesses, McGlaughn, Russian Sturdivant and Nelson, three 
of the classs designated as accomplices. 

The witness McGlaughn testifies what the objects of the 
Ku-Klux were, and how those objects were to bo accom- 
plished. The prisoner, Griffin Young, who is represented 
to have been re^^ognized by the klan as its chief, suspected 
Mr. Cabiness, the foreman of his tannery, ol having taken 
from the yard several skins. Straightw.w the klan is as- 
sembled, under the leadership of the Prisoner, John 1>. 
Young, its disguise put od, is marched to the residence of 
the prisoner. Griffin Young, where and with Avhom John 
D. Young has a conference, and immediately Cabiness is 



9 

visited by tlic klan in dispjuise, informed tluit lie \v;\s sus- 
pected of liaviD^; taken the skins from Griffin Young, and 
jjis promises searched. Not (inding what tliey were after, 
the klan inforRied Mr. Cabiness that he must replace the 
skins, and that if he would pay the prisoaor, Griffin Young, 
li r the missing leather, there would bo no more done to 
hiiQ thereafter. Cabiness denied to the teeth of the mask- 
ers that he had any of the property of the prisoner, Griffin 
Young, and charged upon them that their visit to him was 
to gratify Griffin Young's spite, because he (Cabiness) had 
eet up an opposition tannery. The khm answered him by 
the question: ''How would 5^ou like to see your length 
measured on the ground?" accompanying it with a threat 
that the mattdr between him and Griffin would "have to bo 
straightened up in six days," or they would "come back, 
and there would be worse times than ever." 

Now, gentlemen of the jury, you must bear in mind that 
Mr. Cabiness is not an accomplice, and that je corroborates 
the testimony of McGlaughu in its essential features. The 
defense attempted to make a case against McGlaughn, on 
the ground that his character for truth was bad, and that 
he was an accomplice. You will give this attack the 
weight it deserves, but no amount of argument or proof 
as to McGlaughn can lessen the force of the testimony of 
Mr. Cabiness, and he proves that the Ku-Klux did in rela- 
tion to him precisely v.'hat McGlaughn had previously 
sworn. 

The witness Russian Sturdivant, joined the Ku-Klux 
just as he reached the age of twenty years. He tells you 
that Uarkens, the prisoner, was the first person who ever 
told him of the existence of such an organization, and 
asked him if he did not want to join it. iiarkins told him 
it was "a good thing to keep peace in the country." Under 
these really false representations, but which Sturdivnnt 
believed to be true, he joined the infamous gang. I do 
not know how the appearance of this young man, twenty- 
two years of age, upon the witness stand, imi)ressed you. 
It appears to the Court tiiat, notwithstanding his brief 
association with the diabolical Ku-Klux Klan, his better 
nature is stronger than his vicious lapse. I have no doubt 
he spoke the truth. This is but my opinion to you, how- 
ever. 

Sturdivant tells us what the object of the Ku-Klux 
were. In his own phraseology, "the object was to keep 
organized, to protect the Democratic party, and to keep 
niggers down." On his direct examination he gave us 
illustrations of the signs of recognition used by tlio Ku- 

3 



10 

Klus, and tald the pass words and distress cry, and on 
liis c»os8 examination by the defense, and upon their de- 
mand, recited the oath which is adminifetered to persons 
when they are initiated. He tells you the oath is this: 

"You do solemnly swear, before Almighty God and the 
Avitnesses present, that you will never divulge any secret 
of this order yon are about to become a member of, and 
that you will faithfully discharge your duty as a member. 
tiO help you God; and that you will protect the Democratic 
party, and if any of the order shall be arrested and put in 
jail, you will release him by night or day, as the circum- 
stances may be." 

Sturdivant testified that the penalty for divulging the 
secrets of the order was death. He tells you that he has 
seen the prisoner, Harkins, at meetings of the klan, and 
was with him on a raid to whip a negro near "Mr. Adams' 
mill," and in the raid against !i,andolph Pearson; that he 
and the prisoners, John D. Young and Ringgold Young, 
were engaged in the burning of the African church, and 
that Ringgold Young, with himself and others, were in the 
raid at Walker's, in December, 1870, or Januaiy 187X, 
when a negro who was about to be whipped ran away, and 
was shot as he attempted to escape. 

It is proper that you should recollect that no attempt 
has been made to impeach the testin»ony of SturdivtiMt by 
in'oof direct against his character for truth and veracity. 
The defense calls no witnesses for this purpose. 

The witness, Curtis Williams, testifies that he has seen 
the prisoner, Ringgold Young, in the disguise of a Ku- 
Klux; that so disguised he accompanied him to < 'be 
Thomas' to whip a negro; that after this whipping they 
went to Christian s place and whipped a negro woman and 
her boy. Ho testifies that the Prisoner GrifiBn Young, in- 
vited him to be one of a party to put E. W. Barns out of 
the way, who Griffin Young said would ruin the Ku-Klux 
Klan if ho was not put out of the way. This witness tes- 
tifies that Griffin Young wae spoken of m the klan as the 
c3'clops. 

He also testifies to the persuasions of Griffin Young on 
the subject of his being called as a witness before the grand 
jury, during which he tried to impress him with the idea 
that he was not compelled, on being sworm before that 
body, to tell what he knew about the Ku-Klux. 

It is true that Williams is an accomplice. He comes be- 
fore you as do the other accomplices, under that cluud,but 
the defense do not attack his general character for truth 



11 

and voracity, aiul liid tostiinony is corroborated in many 
essential respects by E, W. Barnes. 

The witness, Webb, a black man, corroborates the testi- 
mony of the witnesses who were the accomplices of the 
))risonor8. Ho provos the rifiit to the honse on the last 
ni-'ht oi the year 1870, of eig'htccn men in disgnises of the 
Kn-Klnx; their moasnriii^:; him lor his coffin; their beatiiii;- 
him; their threats that they wonkl whip all Radicals, black 
and white; their injunction against his voting at elections; 
their expression of their purpose to burn the Elam A.fricau 
church that night, and the burning of it in a quarter of au 
liuur after they left his house. 

The witness, Wiley Williams, also corroborates material 
testimony given by the accomplices. He proves the burn- 
ing o! the church on the last night of the year 187U, and 
that ho was visited by the Ku KIux in disgui-K^ that same 
night, severely whipped, brutally kicked, and measured for 
his coffin, alter being first being interrogated as to how he 
voted, and cursed for voting the Republican ticket. 

Green Sturdivaut testifies in corroboration of material 
fscts sworn to by the witnesses who wore accomplices. 
He proves the burning of the church by men in the dis- 
guises of the Ivu-Klux, and their visit to his own house; 
their whipping him severely and measuring him for hia 
coffin. Mr, Maxwell also proves the fact of the church 
burning ou the 31st of December, 1870. 

This is the case as it is presented to you by the United 
States. The crime charged, in plain language, is that the 
prisoners Were Ku-Klux. How do the prisoners au- 
bwer it? 

The prisoner, Ringgold Young, sets up an alibi as to the 
single act of burning the Elam church. Y(m will recollect 
the testimony of the black man, Thomas, on this point. I 
pass it in pity .md without further comment It true, its 
only tendency or efl'ect would be to lelieve Ringgold Young 
of participation in the Iniruing of Elam church. It makea 
no attempt at denying that ke was a member of the Ku- 
Klux, or that he went on the raids testified to by Curtis 
Williams, or those testified to by McGlaughn and Stur- 
divaut. 

The general defense is, that the prisoners bore a good 
character, and that the witnesH, McGlaughn, bore a bad 
character for truth, and that he aud the witnesses, Curtis 
Williams aud Russian Sturdivant. being accomplices of the 
prisoners are not to be believed. 

Aud first as to the good character of the accused. The 
law presumes that a man of good character will not commit 



12 

crime. This is the substance of it. But when reliablo 
evidence is adduced tlnat such a man has committed it, the 
presumption arising out of good character is overcome, and 
previous good character is of no avail. Before the Rev. 
Dr. Dodd committed the forgery for which he was hanged 
in England, his charactes way irreproacaable. Before 
professor Webster murdered Dr. Parkman in Boston, he 
stood as well as any man in New England. He killed 
Parkman, and was hanged for doing so. Satan himself was 
an archangel before he became the devil. 

The defendant, Harkins, called four witnesses as to his 
character. Three of these did not know what his char- 
acter Was, and the other, Mr. Jarvis, testified of it in this 
language: "I think I know his general character; I think 
it is good." 

The other deiendants, Reuben G. Young, John D. Young 
and Ringgold Young, trom out ot all their neighbors and 
acquaintances, call three persons to prove their general 
character. JVlr. Thomas testifies that "the general char- 
acter of Reuden G. Young and Ringgold Young is good, as 
far as I know," and thinks John D. Young's general charac- 
ter is good. Mr. John Morgan testifies that Reuben G. 
Young's general character "is very fair — very quiet and 
peaceable." Be knows nothing about the general char- 
acter of Ringgold or John D. Young. Mr. Charles B. 
Welsh is not examined as to the general character of Ring- 
gold Young or John D. Young. He testifies that the gen- 
eral character of Reuben Griffin Young was formerly good, 
but that it was now bad, and has been bad since last year. 

Gentlemen of the jury, I would be false to the duty I 
owe this case, if I did not instruct you that, as a matter ot 
law^ the defense of previous good character has not been 
proven. 

At this juncture, and before considering the question of 
the testimony of an accomplice, i wish to instruct you that 
it is a maxim of the law that in a case where the proofs 
are not absolutely convincing to the mind of a juror, so as 
to enable him at once to find a verdict, free from misgiv- 
ings as to its correctness, the accused shall have the benefit 
ot any reasonable doubt that is engendered by the evidence 
itself. "Reasonable certainty of the prisoner's guilt is thai 
degree of certainty upon which the jurors would act in their 
own grave and important concerns," 

The case so soon to be given to you, gentlemen of the 
jury, is one of great and growing interest. Upon its 
truthful disposition depends very much of the well-being of 
the people of these communities. If life and liberty are to 



13 

be doled out to us by bands of disguised vagabond con- 
epirators or altogether denied us at their will, the laws are 
a mockery and society a cheat. Th» ecenes of woe and 
ruin that will assuredly come to us all if the laws are suc- 
cessfully defied, are too terrible to picture. 

Th« statutes under which these prisoners are now being 
tried were intended to embrace every species of wrong or 
injury committed through the medium of criminal combi- 
nations, and the evidence submitted to you in this caso 
proves that there was a necessity that Congress should 
enact these statues, and th»t they were not enacted a mo- 
ment to soon. I am shocked and surprised at the develop- 
ments which have been made. I had no manner ot belief 
iu the existance of an organized Ku-Klux Klaa in Ala- 
bama since 1869. I so testified before the joint committee 
ol Congress when examised before that body in Wash- 
ington in 1871. I believed and hoped that the dark and 
cruel monster was dead and burried out of sight and res- 
urection. Now to refuse to recognize the fact ot its ex- 
istence and operations as lately as Oetober, 1871, in the 
counties of Cossa and Tallapoosa, of this State, would be 
simply to be pitifully and wilfully blind to a proven fiict. 
It is with this fact you are called upon to deal. In dealing 
with it if your moral courage be not equal to the demands 
made by the law upon vour conscience, woe unto yon, for 
woo must be to the Una that is plagued by the infidelity 
or cowardice of sworn jurors. 

The prisoners at the bar are upon their trial charged 
with being members of a corrupt combination which had 
for its objects the depriving of citizens of rights guaran- 
teed and secured by the constitusion and laws — a combi- 
nation which stole the robes of justice and converted them 
into the garments of hideous disguise — a combination 
that spared neither age nor sex — a combination which had 
no fixed place for ttie convocation of its members, but 
which sallied forth under the cover of the night and in 
forms of terror, from barroH Gelds and full church yardn, 
to burn and lay waste the edifices of religion and learning, 
to kill those who worshipped or were taught therein; to 
consign to premature graves, men, women and children in 
robust health; a combination which, from the embers of 
crime lighted the fires of sacrifice, and placed upon the 
dtsocrated alters of religion the burnt-oflb rings of^ sin. 

Any people who will not, when they may, consign to just 
punishment those outlaws, deserves to suffer all the horrors 
their existence produces, and by the poetry of justice the 



14 

juror wlio s^mpathi.-es witli thorn or their crimes, ought to' 
be their very next victim. 

There is but one question in the case, gentlemen of the 
jury, which remains for 3^our consideration, and that is, do 
you believe the witnesses produced before you by the" 
uovernmunt? If you do, this is a legitimate and legal end 
ot it, and authorizes you, if you are so minded, to render a 
verdict of guilty without leaving your seats. 

Ought you to believe them? Of course, as to all the 
witnesses who were not accomplices with the prisoners at 
the bar in the combination known as the Ku-Klux, you 
will reject, or receive their testimony upon the same prin- 
ciples which obtain Ib res|)ect of proof in any case; as to 
th(>se, there is no occasion that I should lay down any par- 
ticular rule. As to the witnesses who confess themselves 
accomplices, and whose testimony was naturally thesul)ject 
ot severe animadversion by the counsel for the defense, I 
observe to you that ever since the establishment ot legal 
tribunals it has been found necessary and expedient for the 
ascertainment of the truth and the detection and punish- 
ment of great criminals, to resort to the testimony ot ac- 
complices. The prime quality of an expert in crime is 
the tidlent fi>r concealment. All the plans of wi^ckeduess.. 
have reference to creating difficulties in the way of its de- 
tection, and this is true whether the violations of law ba 
the act oi a single individual or of several individuals in 
concert. In the pursuit of crime we can only employ, 
hujnan agencies, and the^e, be it remembered, are the 
same agencies which are employed by the transgressor to 
commit it, so that its concealment and detection is but a 
strife between intellectual force. 

The law receives the confession of a man against him- 
self as the very highest evidence, and the evidence of a 
man agiiinst his accomplices, with certain precautionaiy 
attendants, as proof upon which it is entirely safe for court'a 
■of justice to rely. 

it has been the practice to instruct juries to receive the 
testimony of accomplices with great circumspection, and 
It has also been usual for judges to advise that before full 
credence is given to it, the jury require some corroboration 
<}f the material parts ot the accomplice's testimony This 
iiorroboration is very often found in the existence ot inde- 
pendent facts connected with the testimony of the accom- 
plice, but provable by other testimony* The case at the 
bar furnishes a notable illustration of this doctrine. The 
accomplices, by their direct testimony, prove the unlawful 
confederating of the prisoners, for the unlawful purposes 



of the Ku Klux Klan; ami unimpeaclied witnesses prove 
the coniniissioii by the accused of -several of the overt acL.s 
of the combination, amoiij^ them the whippiii;^ of the ue- 
c:roes, and the burnin<;- of the church and the school house; 
8'o tliat if the hiw now wore that the evidence of accom- 
plices couhl not be received by the jury unless accomfjau- 
ied by corroborative proof, the case before us wouhi bo 
ch>ariy within the rule. This is not the law, however. 
Th(? testimony of all witnesses who are permitted' to bu 
examined is j;iven in char^^o to the jury, who may, and 
must upon their own couscientious and intellectual appro- 
oiiition of it, give it such consideratiou as they think it 
on^-Jit to have, They may thus, if the circuinstances war- 
rant it, disbelieve entirel}' the testimony of a person who 
was never so much as ciiar;Aed with crime, and as ap;:iir)sL 
him place entire confidence in a witness who, up to tlu> 
hour of his testifying, has been continually associaU-d 
with guilt. In other words, the whole matter of liow much 
or how little a witness shall bo believed, is within the ex- 
clusive control of the jury empannellod to try the causes. 
Formerly, a witness who had an interest in the result of a 
suit was regarded as incompetei\t. Now such a witness is 
admitted to testify, and the jury determines how much, if 
any, he is influenced to swerve irom that fact. Formerly, 
it would have been considered monstrous to allow a party to 
the cou+roversy ti) testfy in his own behalf, ^ow, the 
parties may be witnesses for themselves and the jury de- 
termines how much credit the}' are entitled to. As W;ih 
remarked in the case of The Peof)le vs. Whipj)le, 9 Cowan, 
707, the admission of accomplices as witnesses "tends 
to prevent any extensive agreement among atrocious 
criminals." 

It has been hekl in South Carolina and in Maine, that 
"the evidence of an accomplice is altogether tor the jury, 
and they, if they please, may act upon it without anv con- 
firmation of his statements;" and in New Yotk the well 
settled doctrine is, that "the testimony of an accomplice, 
if the jury are satisfied of its truth, will warrant the con- 
viction of the accused, though it be uiicorrol)erat(id by anv 
other testimony." This accords with the reason and the 
philosophy of the law. 

In the case before us, if the testimony of the witnesses 
who have themselves been members of the Ku ivlux Klan 
were not corroborated by the other witnesses, and the in- 
dependent iacts I have before alluded to, you might yet 
find the prisoners guilty u[)on the unsupiiorted evideuco 
of the accoTuplicos, and it would be your clear duty to da 



16 

this if the testimony piven by them satisfied you of its 
trathfulness. Upon this subject as upon all others within 
vour province, you reason and conclude according to your 
intelligence and your conscience. 

Gentlemen of the jury, the Court now confides this case 
to you for a rerdict. Take it into your keeping. The 
majesty of the law, and the safety of the citizens are in 
your charge. Beware how you trifle with either- for aa 
yon hold the scales of justice between these, favorivOg 
neither, but honest to both, so you will be esteemed in this 
life and in the great future to which it is the prelude. 
God help you, gentlemen of the jury, to be faitnful and 
fearless. 



<Jentlemen of the Jury : 

The prisoners at the bar are charged by an indictment 
of a grand jury, with having violated two of the acts of 
Congress, one approved May 31, 1870, and the other ap- 

f roved April 20, 1871. The sixth section of the act of 
870, is in these words: "If two or more persons shall 
band or conspire together, or go in disguise upon the public 
highway, or upor the premiwes of another, with intent to 
violate any provisions of this act or to injure, oppress, 
threaten or intimidate any citizen, with intent to prevent or 
binder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or priv- 
ilege granted or secured to him by the constitution of the 
United States, or because of his having exercised the same; 
each person shall be held guilty of a felony;" and the 
eecoiid section of the act of 1871, provides that, if "two or 
more persons within any State or Territory of the United 
States, shall conspire together, or go in disguise upon the 
public highway, or upon the premises of another, for the 
purpose, either directly or indirectly, of depriving ssch 
person of the equal protection of the laws, each and every 
person so oflfending shall be deemtHi guilty of a high 



crime '* 



The offense described by the statutes is what is kqown 
as a conspiracy, which is defined as 'the corrupt agreeing 
hgether of two or more persons to do, by concerted action, 
something unlawful, either as a means or as an end." 

When such a conspiracy is proven to exist, and when it 
further appears that the accuHod was a member ot it, the 
law holds him responsible for whatever is done by his co- 
conspiartors in furtherance of the objects of the corrupt 
combination, though he himself did not advise the par- 
ticular act, or participate in it, and although he was com- 



17 

pletely ignorant of the intention to commit it, and of the 
tacts of its commission. 

In tlic case before you, as in a case of a similar character 
just tried in this Court, the United States have proven the 
existence and active operations of a band of hiwless nieu 
associated for criminal purposes in a combinatiorj known 
as the Ku-Klux Klan. It is evident that as lately as April 
or May, in the year 1871, this conspiracy existed in an 
organized form in tlie county of Randolph, in the State 
of Alabama. Its objects, as declared by those who arc 
nhovvn to have belonged to it by the testimony of unim- 
})eached and uncontradicred witnesses, were "to stop Rad- 
ical whites and negroes from Voting, or holding ollice in 
the country." "To keep the niggers down and pre- 
vent their voting," and to keep Radicals from voting." 
'I'hiy is wnat they were organized to do, and this is as cor- 
rupt a combination as Was ever formed in defiance of the 
law and in derogation of righta and privileges both granted 
and secureil to the people of these States by the constitu- 
tion, and the laws passed in pursuance of it. 

The XlVth amendment to the constitution of the United 
States declares that all persons born or naturalized in the 
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are 
citizens of the United States and of the State wherein 
they reside." 

The XVth amendment to the constitution of the United 
States, declares that "the rights of citi/ens of the United 
States to vote shall not be denied or abriged by the Unite<l 
States or by any State on account of race^ color or previous 
condition of servitude. The Congress shall have power 
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." 

It will be perceived, gentlemen of the jury, that the 
XlVth amendment to the organic law, is a declaration by 
the people of the United States, of what constitute citi- 
zenship among them. All persons, white and black alikr, 
born on the soil, and subjects of the law and the govern- 
ment, are, ipso favto, citizens. Every person, white nnd 
black alike, wherever born, in Africa or in Ireland, in Asia 
or in Germany, naturalized in the United States, and a 
subject of their laws and government, is, ipso facto, a 
litizen. 

It will next bo perceived that the first article of the I5th 
ami'iulmont to the supreme law of the land, vests in every 
citizen of the United States, white or black, native or 
naturalized, the Same right to exercise the elective fran- 
chise that aoy citizen has, and Congress, following out this 



18 

constitutional investment, passed the "act to enforce the 
right of citizens of the United States to vote in the several 
States of this Union and tor other purposes." 

The constitution and the laws declare, as you see, that 
the negro in these communities, shall not be denied the 
right to vote by reason of his being a black wan, or by 
reason of his having been a slave, and makes it a crime to 
attempt to abridge this right. If this crime be attempted 
by a combination of two or more persoBs, the laws declare 
it shall be inquired of by, and punished in the courts of the 
nation, and not by or in the courts of the State. 

Opposed to the constitution of their country, opposed 
to the laws of their own land, opposed to the universal 
sense of civilization and Christianity, opposed ^o decency 
and humanity, comes the Ku-KIux, and banding together, 
and taking oaths of confederation, deliberately, maliciously, 
and with purpose predetermined as to means, declare their 
contempt for tl)e constitution and laws, and avow their in- 
tention to prevent radical white citizens and radical black 
citizens from exercising the right of suffrage. 

Does it require a course of reasoning to prove that such 
a combination is corrupt and unlawful ? or that it should 
be extirpated, root and branch, by the strong hand of gov- 
ernment? What is that citizenship worth to the subject 
which is not protected as well as bestowed ? No, gentle- 
men of the jury, there is no room for doubt here, and, as I 
said in another case tried at this term of the court, I have 
HO difficulty in declaring it to be the law of the land that 
the organization of a Ku-Klux Klan is the consummation 
of just such a conspiracy and banding together, as it was 
the intention of those statute.? to punish, and that who- 
ever enrols himself on its list of membership, and takes its 
obligation, is a conspirator within the intent and meaning 
of the laws of the land. 

It follows that if the proof satisfies you that the prison- 
ers on trial, wore members of this vile combination, they 
are guilty as charged, aud your duty is to find them so. 

The United States called Stephen P. Hood, who testified 
that the prisoner, Gray, admitted to him that he was a Ku- 
Klax and urged Hood to join the combination. Gray 
states when and where this conversation occurred. It was 
on the 17th of April, 1871. 

The prisoner, Howard, told the witness, Hood, that he 
was in the raid on Mrs. McDowell, and in the raid upon 
the freedman who lived on the Sewell place, from whose 
house the Ku Klux stole whiskey and powder. Howard 



19 

told Hood tliat they went in disguise, and that he was de- 
puted to demand a pistol wliicli it was supposed Mrs. 
McDowell had in hor house; and Mrs. McDowell testifies 
that the prisoner, Howard, did come in disguise, with a 
band of Ku-Klux in disguise, and did demand the pistol 
from her, and that on their leaving her premises, as they 
ran off, they pelted the house with rocks, This evidence 
agrees exactly with the evidence given by Hood, and con- 
firms it in all its material respects. Neither Hood nor 
Mrs. McDowell is an accomplice. Neither of them were 
ever a member of the accursed fraternity. Both of them 
stand before you uncontradicted and unimpeacked. No 
witness is called who shakes their credibility in the least, 
and Spencer Thrift, who was himself a member of the 
Klan, corroborates the testimony of Hood and Mrs. Mc- 
Dowell, and tef^tifies that he and the prisoner, Howard, 
were in the raid made against the black man who lived on 
the Sewell place. 

As to the prisoner Blanks, Hood testifies that he con- 
fessed his connection with the Klan, and that he partici- 
pated in the raid on Robert Alien and Whitley, //enry 
Hunter tells you that Blanks belonged to the Ku-Klux and 
that Blanks was present when Riifus Barrens, the captain 
of the organization, showed Hunter the list of persons 
composnig it and that Blanks' name was upon the roll. 
Blanks did not deny this, and under the circumstances his 
silence must be taken as an admission of the fact. 

The witness. Hunter, is not an accomplice. He was not 
a member of the Klan There is no attempt upon the 
part of the accufed to show that Hunter is not worthy to 
be believed by you, and he confirms the testimony of the 
witjiesB, Hood, who testifies to the confessions made to him 
by the prisoner, Plant. 

The witness, Thrifts, testifies John to you that the 
prisoners, Howard and Blanks, were both members of the 
Ku-Klux in 1871. That Howard was with him on the raid 
against the colored man. Bill Jjawson, who lived on i^ewell's 
place, and that the prisoner. Blanks told him hen as go- 
ing to join the Klan, and afterwards told bim he had 
joined it. 

Thrifts is a young man, just twenty-two years of age. 
Ho was seduced into joining the dark-minded conepirators 
before he had reached his legal majority. He is callivl on 
the stand laboring under this disadvantage, but it by no 
means follows that he has not told you the plain, unvarn- 
ished truth. The ease foi the United States, however, 
does not stand or fall accordingly as you shall reject or re* 



20 

coive his testimony. The material facts to which he was 
examined had already been testified to by Hood, Spencer 
Tlirifts and Mrs. McDowell; and as I before suggested, 
neither of these is an accomplice. 

You have thus before you the confessions of the three 
prisoners that they were members of the illegal and cor- 
rupt combination, and you have superadded to this, and in 
support of it, the testimony of the witnesses who speak of 
the actual participation of Blanks and Howard in the un- 
holy business for which the organization was termed. 

As to the defense of previous good character, I instruct 
you that the law presumes a man who has lived a good 
life, who has been honest and honorable, who is in sound 
repute with his neighbors and acquaintances, will not 
readily commit a crime. This presumption, until it is met 
and overcome by evidence that he has actually trans- 
gressed, is a tower of strength to the accused. When it 
is so met and overcome, good character is of no further 
avail. Froof then destroys presumption. 

It is also a maxim of law that an accused person is en- 
titled to the benefit oi all reasonable doubt of his guilt. 
Even after the proofs in a case have repelled the presurnp 
tion of a good character with which every defense sets out, 
there remains to it the benefit of this reasonable doubt. 
Tnis is the property of the accused, of which nothing but 
u verdict deprives him. The doubt, to be within the legal 
rule, must not be the result of speculation and surmis'e. 
It must be the legitimate result and outgrowth of the 
evidence in the case, and 8"ch a doubt as an honest and 
intelligent man would feel in respect of some matter of 
great personal concern. 

The prisoners, Howard and Blanks, do not attempt to 
offer any affirmative defense. Not a single human being is 
called upon their behalf. The prisoner. Gray, relies upon 
the testimony of the brother-in law and the brother of the 
notorious Riifus Barrons, as to Gray's previous good char- 
acter, for defense. You will determine how much this tes- 
timony is worth, and whether you will allow it to overcome 
the case made against him by the United States. 

I will detain you no longer, gentlemen. The case does 
not warrant or justify an extended charge from the Court. 
All the facts of it are within a narrow compass. If the 
witnesses for the prosecution have not committed perjury, 
the case for the government is made out, and the prisoners 
are proven guilty. I know that you will render a verdict 
that shall satisfy the demands of justice. Any other will 
be a miafortane and a reproach. 




^^/[(r'sjtJ'tjV^'ri thuH'ijliou'fi th tM',«o,?iii'd''Ht^t; t^ic»y UU \tei*e for 
'tK^' 6YjV-fimF^' ^Trfch'-'MsMievtV l^o^^i tbld, the tictimi 

o\ MaibalriM, 'Uiis bVUiif foHc-f^l'^ ■t;<<uv.lj|Al JbYittil vfttim- ;th«i 

'(^'oosa' c^iijitv,' xV^T^jiVr, n|)!|V<!fi!<!(F 'flvUv- iiiVo/'iiv ymisenoe-- wf 
(j^'nfeVaP J.' 'ij.' GlH)ifhn,;Ah<]"bvr6iAi >\f)y (Vt'fthlfvVi- pi-ojtacii^ 
timis,' wleVd' t!(MViu'oifeeVP;-ty ,'fiik(l- W-fiv<Ji, |>;lit to- sn|»^ 

'VecC t1/dVie^^t^6Ls'\»'i^''K'is.''ftiriii;'i!r'tiVdr"^ hiis 

noj^rooii'j'vVdre ^oKrrtfi»-H'-''tili^dak>'i4(l, ANtliti' Wvi.-^ dtmbtfrvl if 

|fi'e Vq'iila bb' HVjfu 'ft) ktrefy iTiciin -tip'rth liik tAVW. nhd thab Huch 
iVe i(i', 111 f» , t ooTf I f <,^s ' ii liijili tl st 1 1 fiii t b ; « t hi iy t h I \vr< 1 jc could : sh v . 

/<yotY''/ ,''J,:)^'<^ ' t U'Vj^so-i-lTiin k 'dI: f IH i.-^^ ^ta (q' lU %\\ i i i^M. * • ■ jl*]. -M. 

'VAvUii^-l, ;l iJehioorat', ;\iifl ft! 'WortliV i^m'l-Uof*<>i>:d>ii*i'TftHi<» in 

.'I'alljiijDDsa, opposed to the K._ K. K., tHe Pib^^i'hOTrs^' Jju 
Wb'icU'Lp ydifj't \V;\rf ' r/iMiidU,' KC -K'." i)V>l*icl'M 1 l^rHiit(!yrtii)|;i ■ li i m 

\ Hi0'or^tyi\)S^h\)fathH6ik^' imuM\\\\\y,'ikiuA<'^up 'aC 'his gnlfe, 

. a j i d* 'U) o niVe'st i un'if i < W/sTi ( i (v.^ 

l'i?6:'''I)^,iiiiAl /Taylor;' ;i I)6i^btTr(t aC 'TaHiiMV).^:!, a^ ' fu;\n 'dt 
proiVtirty, df iuU'kci'pV.or)'.\h\c i-hhrik-ior, bm^^tso bft wrtdiT- 
t'qdk'ti) inn Ills fai'i'n with Ibi,' hibor tllitt h(^Jd«H"rWd'bo«t io 

' bfs HVrtiHt''!^t, Vi'it(l' '(?/ lVi^(\1'f'<'!t"fh;t't'=l'alLW; iVH^'iHnuov(»<1, 
tVi«|(ialohin]'Yiiid iHliitllylia(^'lt*ri^'Vh\fcr^^^ rH-'tiie 

' lhV)\LsiUi'i1 dollar^- l>nl-'n(ird', '5lIi<^'hb l*i'i<tl butiir frtf ucVl to take 

'Ills' la'irii^v jto' Opi'lil^/." .fbhfr'P: Siii1tFr,"h»iiUi(d-iw M»>i>t- 

!'|i:/mieiy c.^^^^ u l;b!;t-'<it'Hi'f^' ^Idi6r and it hM|m«;,«}vt, h.-t- 

'In^ m'li luiii^nj* asau'ihill'o'ii'thf^Si'hiK! N; H; 'It. .'in IJa>kor 
f^Vmiitv, liiidiii^' it '\iC(*.e>isHiVH(i' Jrtlphw (^>'Mi<h1 '];?vb(ir( wAs 

' iVi'ii'r tf/ro;Uotid; iliid tTil-i) fib' ^^iitimbfy'riij^'btv Jiiil(>- Stb, 187'J. 
bad bU premises Visited hv'^^'^^rt'iwd 'of f^Tt^'diii^tlirod 
^'^eV/'sbtiio M 'fhfc"'(iolirfed'|iUirJ*vH^rtiWioir Jiid cxoo'ot Iwd 
6 



»8 

tenements occupied by a widow aud ber children burned. 
Three men charged with this have been bound over to 
aMe«\ver at the next term ot the United States Disstrict 
Court. Posey McConnell, of Fayette county, has had 
great trouble with the K. K., intimidating, threatening 
and running of his colored laborers*. fJe is one of the 
wealthiest men and best citizens in the county opposed t'> 
K. K. He told me himself it things continued, he woidd 
Ijave to leave the country. A tew other similar cases in 
diflFerent places might be given. 

There is one other feature of this monstrous klan to 
which I call your attention. It is the manner in which 
young men and boys are drawn into it. A proposition is 
made to them to go to see a little fun. Uususpectingly 
they agree to it, and start off with a crowd not knowing or 
suspectinLC any thing wroi»g, get off to some old field or 
woods, all halt, some disguise themselves, others, who have 
no disguise, are directed to put their shirts and drawers 
over their pants and coats. In this situaton a negro is 
whipped, in a few instances killed At once the obligation 
is read, and the penalty of disclosing explained, and 
whether the young man or boy takes the obligation or not 
he is enrolled as a member and his mouth shut. Such was 
the case with several who have since disclosed and have 
been sworn as witnesses, and for which they liave been 
so bitterly denounced. And in this way your sons have 
beer), and were being, unsuspectingi}' to you, and without 
intendi«g it themselves, drawn into this most diabolical 
conspiracy against the rights and privileges of citizens, 
and against tlii^ peace and good order ot society and the 
government itself. 

But perhaps you are ready to say, we are opposed to all 
this, but it should be put down by the local or State au- 
thority. In answer to this, I call your attention to the fact 
that the very journals and political leaders* that have, and 
»re now so bitterly denouncing the National Government, 
denounced with equal bitterness, all State legislation for ^ 
the purpose; that they denounced Governor Smith and a 
Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, for attempting 
to investigate and put down this organized lawlessness, 
with as much bitterness as they now denounce the Presi- 
dent and Judges of the National Courts, and I at-k you to 
seriously answer your own consciences, if the National 
Government is deprived of all power to act by its Courts 
or otherwise, is it not to put the Govennnent completely 
in the control of these klans, and then what would be the 
situation ? Let the past and late developments answer the 



23 

question. Life, liberty iiiid property never was more in- 
secnre in Mexico, with her j;ue»TillaK, fjroascrt', banditRand 
revolntiortary bands, than it would be in these States, and 
the result would be revolutioji alter revolution, untd our 
entire system of trovernmont would be overthrown, and a 
monachy or military deepotism would rise upon its ruins. 
I know that a majority of our people are as pood as any in 
iho world, but I know of hundreds of men in different lo- 
caliti<?H who, having; expressed themselves against this 
or>2;ani7;ation, have been, by their friendd, taken aside and 
Hdmonished and advised to be more careful and guarded 
in their expressions. I know for opinions aoit utterances 
like these I have been, and will be airain denounced as an 
enemy, who is trving to persecute, Oppress and degrade 
thn people of Alabama. 

1 submit to your serious consideration and just judg- 
ment, whether I. who hav«i and am doing all in tny power 
to protect the large mass of the people, who are peaceable, 
law-abiding and good, against the liwh^ss b mds of con- 
spirators, who constitute tlie minority, but who infest and 
ruin the credit of our State and people, wlio are de- 
priving citizens ot their rights, who are constantly bring- 
in-- distress, misery, sulfering and ruin upon c uumunities, 
misery and rain upon taiuilies, destrox'ing the peace and 
quiet of the State, and endangering the existence of the 
govprnmiMit itself, tim not, instead of the enemy, the true 
triund of the people? And if those wIjo are c(Mistantly and 
persistently, by appealing to passion and prejudice, trying 
to induce our people to make the cause of these bands of 
conspirators their cause, are not the real enemies of our 
people ? And if th -y succeed, if thej will not bring per- 
secutions, prosecutions, disgrace and ruin upon our State 
and {)eople ? I beg j'ou to think of this calmnl}* and seri- 
ously, do not be iruided by passion and prejudice, do not 
let ns make any more mistakes. 

In c»)ncInsion, 1 assure you I have no malice or vindic- 
tiveness to gratifiy, I have no feelings of ill will or malicn 
against any human being in the Slate. 1 have, and shall 
continue, to the best ot my ability, do my whole duty at all 
haz/.ards, at any risk, and to the last extremity, at th«? samo 
time to the utnif>>t ot my ability, avoid olfendingany per- 

H or dealing harshly or (tppressively with any. No man 

more then 1 would rtjoiro la see a state of things that 
would j list d'y all prosecutions in the National Courts should 
cease, in salcty to the rights and priviliges of all citizens. 
Yea, more, that all who have been, or may bo convicted, 
could safely be pardoned and return to their homes and 



24 
-ai 91001 Hiiv/ 'i:in'n /JtoqcTij Inw- 7)'>Q'Mi ,oYhl arohaorip 

ft(ftffe '?f6^'''6W(i'fatli^^i '' i know that nGyiniatTiidfeeire-S', t^y*? 
>^¥fe'^)t*Hllin'i^'s''1iiftr^''felviie«^^ than Pposid-^iitfrCri'a'ut'v-yijNtil 
tio uiaii tnoVti-r6rtdyiiibo<^<i;laith to accept ai)d;a;(i2km»V)lWit|. 

m:vrft' ;Itid wiir*pWt^et''it^~^^itiz<3n». :.A; govcrnrnoiit ?th;it 
Jails in this/ift'i^ntiiwOrtliythie ms;pe^cytf-e&tie*jm,.»ud.;8UW>iWl' 

lof^itiuiately t'of1ffei^f-^d''"|>Mi'4fVfa! to pvotvct :tl»«i> n^^'Uf ♦^'J 
tflo citizerys;-! liu^(? ilo donlltf ttmHot it behfxiiiy^JJj'jmutl, 

liiht>iiftet'''^tfll/#*e great \^O^m)'l^nt^S^ 

tioiis of Pret^ident Grant, is eiulefl'Y©4:ibil;Ata5)e.#'(sH.H3ti.^i'*1?l 
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